


Falling Together

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-07
Updated: 2013-06-07
Packaged: 2017-12-14 05:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/833383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After one of Eridan and Sollux's duels on LOBAF, Karkat finds the body of Eridan Ampora, knocked out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling Together

I don’t really remember what I was doing on the Land of Brains and Fire that night. It’s not exactly a tourist attraction, filled with things which spontaneously combust and really freaky floating brains like it is. Just above the land of wrath and angels with its angelic hordes and idiot with the legendary gun, yet just below the land of rays and frogs with its blinding light and lack of dry land.

Sollux and Eridan had been duelling, a thing I'm pretty sure you expressly forbid over 70 times now. Like everything in this game the brains have my  own mutant red blood, and large pools of it form where the  grey matter was pierced by Ahab’s Crosshairs or psionic lightning. I bend down and put my finger in it, it’s the same consistency colour and everything as the thing which I’ve been hunted for my entire life. I wipe it off on my trousers, I’ve lost track which blood marks are even my own anymore, I’ve not told anyone but Terezi about my actual blood colour but I can easily pass red blood off as coming from my own planet, which just so happens to be covered in the stuff, or from the prospitians and dersites who have it all pumping through them too.

There’s a body there, it’s hard to tell who from this distance, the fire’s blinding. Oh god, it might be Sollux, oh god, I don’t know if I could deal with him dying on me again.

“Oh.”

The body of Eridan Ampora lies on the floor, curled up into a foetal position like a wriggler still clinging to the mother grub, or me as is actually the case. He doesn’t stir and for a moment I think I might have to dream revive him, but his breathing is clear. His body’s covered in burn marks and when I get closer to him I see he’s still sparking slightly with residue from Sollux’s attacks and I have to say, he looks vulnerable for the first time ever. He’s clearly taken a lot of punishment from the gold blood in question; if he weren’t naturally resilient as a Sea dweller it might have done lot more damage. I'm no expert on psychics but it looks like the dose probably could have killed Tavros or me.

I reach out and touch him. A spark of static runs down my arm and I pull away momentarily. His skin is soft and dry, which really isn’t what I had expected sea dwellers to be like at all. One thing I notice however is how cold he is, his skin is almost icy even surrounded by fire. I run a hand over his perfectly styled hair and feel a great urge to wake him up, I want him to show me he’s alive, he seems so unlike himself like this.

A pillar of flame erupts from the ground nearby, startling me, I fall backwards and another curls up from the ground behind me. I look at Eridan; he’s out cold, probably on Derse as we speak. A third eruption and I grab the sea dweller and throw him over my shoulder; he’s light at least but far from bulky.  I run.

LOBAF really has something against me today, I muse, as I am cut off from the gate leading to the land of Pulse and Haze by a wall of fire. I turn around and head to Sollux’s hive and onwards to the Land of Dew and Glass.

The floating brains which normally populate the world are starting to respawn after the carnage of Eridan and Sollux’s duel. I grab my scythe and try to incapacitate any who get too close, It’s difficult with Eridan on my shoulder but I’m able to get to Sollux’s hiveblock in one piece at least. I start to run up the stairs to Sollux’s first gate, but halfway up Eridan slips off my shoulder and tumbles down the massive staircase. If only someone could have warned me about the stairs.

Eridan woke up after that. “Kar what the hell? Where am I? LOBAF?” 

“I found you knocked out on the ground, decided I’d try and get you away from the chaos which is currently going on in this shithole planet.” Eridan turned around, half the planet was alight by this point, but I felt at least safe standing above Sollux’s hive, which to be honest was pretty stupid.

Eridan turns back to me and stands up. “Well thanks Kar, where are we headed?” He takes a step forwards and tumbles over.

I try not to laugh. I really do. “Hahaha. Land of Dew and Grass, big wall of fire stopping us getting to Pulse and Haze.” I walk down and pull Eridan up draping an arm of his over my shoulder.

“Uh, Dew an Glass?” Eridan looks at me like I’ve gone mad. “I don’t know if I can go there Kar.”

I look at him, “But then how did you get…” he looks away sheepishly. “You went thorough the other ten planets instead?” I say in disbelief.

“Kar I don’t like _seein_ her hive or anyfin.” His eyes plead with me. They’re so pitiful, so weak and tired. “Let’s just wait it out for the fire to calm down, or you can just leave me here.”

“Fuck that.” I start to walk up the stairs, pulling him with me. “You need medical attention, I don’t know what the bifurcated bastard did to you but I doubt it was pretty.”

“Kar I’m fine, this is all kind of comin off a bit pale.” He jabs my side. “I’m made a some sturdy sea-fairin shit. I can take that guy, I bet I did more damage to him than he did to me. I reckon he’s probably bleedin out right now.”

“Shoosh,” I place single forefinger on his lips. Eridan blushes.

“Kar is this a,” He stammers, “are you?”

“Am I what?” I smile and begin on the last set of stairs.

“Are you comin on to me, paleways?” Eridan stops moving his legs at the top of the stairs, refusing to budge against my gentle encouragement. “Kar.”

“Maybe,” I smile.

“Watch out kar, you’ll do yourself an injury contortin your face like that." Eridan smiles momentarily. "But I don’t need a Moirail, fef made that pretty damn clear to me.”

“Eridan.” I grab him by his shoulders, “If there is one thing Feferi Peixes has shown me, it’s that you need a moirail more than anyone else I have ever met.”

“More than Eq?” He asks?

“I never met Zahhak before he and Nepeta started to paledate and I’m sure Nepeta has done wonders for him, but right now you need those kinds of wonders done to you.”

“You’re starting to sound like gam kar.”

“What? Shut up fuckass this isn’t about Makara’s fake as fuck Miracles. This is about the well documented scientific wonder of pale romance. This is the kind of empirical shit you live for.”

Eridan laughs. “But why would you want me? I’m a shit moirail, never met anyone worse in the quadrant.”

“That’s cause you were flushed for you moirail you idiot, this is a different type of pity altogether. I want to help you idiot, you’re gonna get dangerous to people if you continue like this, I can see it.” Eridan rolls his eyes. “I mean it Ampora, I think the guy you’re gonna be worst for is yourself too. Sollux doesn’t know his limits, he’s gonna come close to killing you one of these days and you’re gonna just let him rather than give up. I can't let that happen.”

Eridan stares at me for a moment taking me in. He slowly lifts his arms and pulls me into a hug. It’s a tight hug; almost like he’s confirming I’m real and we stay that way for a minute before I pull away.

“So, Moirails?” I say, my arms awkwardly placed at my sides.

“Moirails.” He confirms offering his fist out. I bump it and he pulls me back in for a hug and kisses me on the forehead. “Thanks Kar.” His voice breaks slightly and I realise he’s tearing up.

“You’re such an idiot.” I smile and pap him softly on the face.

“Thanks for belivin in me kar.” We’re both smiling like idiots and for a moment I forget everything but my moirial’s face.

“Let’s get going.” I say and point to the gate above me. “Next stop, land of Dew and Glass.”

We jump into the gate together and the usual empty feeling you get when you transportalise seems somewhat uplifiting with my moirails hand in mine.

We appear in the land of Dew and Glass and oh my god there aren’t any platforms above the fishbowl. We drop, and I curse wildly about the fact that Feferi is so fucking good at jumping, that Sollux can fly and that nobody ever comes to LODAG due to having to pass through LOWAA or LOBAF. I feel Eridan’s arms curl around me and him position himself below me. We hit the water and plunge ten feet below the surface. All I can do is panic. Unlike Eridan I can’t breathe underwater and I can’t swim either. My throat starts to fill with water and I feel like I’m drowning. Wait no, this IS me drowning. Typical, I get a moriail and then die in his exes’ pond. Just my fucking luck.

Then two arms grab me and pull me to the surface. I cough up a pint of water and fianlly open my eyes. The first thing I see is Eridan’s chest. He’s holding onto me, treading water for the both of us and whispering “shoosh” into my ear. I let my tension leave me and melt into his arms.

He carries me over to the side of the fishbowl and sets me on it. He hoists himself up with some difficulty next to me and places his arms around me.

“Shoosh.”

I look at him, he’s already the moirail I had always dreamed of having, he’s vunerable and I want to help him, but he’s still here for me. He just saved my life and although he was the one limping, he took the force of hitting the water and rescued me from drowning.

We stay that way for 10 minutes, in the bliss only pale romance can bring. When he breaks the silence, “You ready to keep goin?”

I look around. “Where all I see is this fishbowl  there’s nowhere to go.”

“Trust me on this one.” Eridan smiles pulls me closer and leans back off the side of the bowl.

“YOU’VE GONE MAD.” I shout but I don’t struggle. The ground approaches quickly and I close my eyes but we actually have a soft landing. “What the?” The grass is actually a lot longer down here than it looks, cushioning our fall perfectly.

“C’mon kar, Paradox space’s a bitch but not givin landdwellers any way a survivin on this planet would be pretty shitty.” Eridan rolls off me smiling.

We lie down in the grass together staring up at the blue sky which was always too bright for our eyes on Alternia, our hands still joined and I can’t help but laugh.

carcinoGenticist (CG) started pestering arsenicCatnip (AC)

CG: LEIJON GET YOUR SHIPPING GRIDS READY FOR AN UPDATE.  
AC: :33 < *ac is startled by karkitty’s sudden entrance and quickly scrambles to grab her shipping charts*  
AC: :33 < *ac gives a salute and the all clear to receive the news*  
CG: KARKAT <> ERIDAN IS NOW CANON.  
CG: THE SHIP HAS OFFICIALLY SAILED.  
AC: :33 < *ac feverishly writes down karkitty’s exciting news and starts to work on the ramifications of the event*  
AC: :33 < oh karkitty, one more thing.  
CG: YEAH?  
AC: :33 < congratulations!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> To stay updated or offer criticsm on my fics please go to my tumblr http://200andnineteenhexagons.tumblr.com/


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